Sanitary dispensing olla



Patented May 29, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved sanitary dispenser for beverages and has for one of its principal objects a means for dispensing drinking water or the like, cooled by evaporation.

One of the important objects of this invention is to provide a drinking water serving olla wherein the supply of evaporation water in the olla jar is always maintained at a desirable level and is separated from the drinking water supply, while at the same time any back-flow to the drinking water supply is wholly prevented.

Another important object of the invention is the provision in a dispensing olla for beverages, of a chair or collar member between the supply bottle and the olla whereby the position of the lip of the supply bottle is raised and whereby the cooling capacity of the olla is increased.

Another and further important object of the invention is to provide, in combinationwith the collar member, a delivery chamber of metal or other material whereby a suitable Water-tight attachment between the faucet tube, the flow tube and the chamber itself can be conveniently made.

Still another and further important object of the invention resides in the provision of an air compression chamber, in connection with the flow tube for supplying evaporation water to the olla, whereby back-flow is prevented and the supply of evaporation water in the olla is maintained at a pre-determined level.

Other and further important objects of the invention will be apparent-from the disclosures in the accompanying drawing and the following specification.

The invention, in a preferred form, is shown in the drawing and hereinafter more fully described.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a side elevation, parts being shown in section, of the improved sanitary dispensing 'olla structure of this invention.

Figure 2 is a detail view of the flow tube which delivers water to the evaporation cham ber and its appurtenances whereby back flow is prevented and whereby the height of the liquid in the olla chamber is controlled.

As shown in the drawing:

The reference numeral 10 indicates generally an olla, which is understood to be a porous earthenware jar for drinking water or the like, which is kept cool by evaporation from the outer surface.

In the most commonly adopted form these ollas simply receive the drinking water from a which the effective cooling capacity depends,

being not above the level of the lip of the inverted bottle. Such ollas tend to become foul after considerable use by reasons of the porous walls absorbing bacteria, dust and dirt and accumulating deposit of a scale of the natural ralts contained in water, resulting from drying out of the porous olla wall when the water level falls. Such impurities contaminate the drinking water in the olla and are unsightly. Frequently the exterior portion of the olla wall above the high-water level is glazed to render such portion impervious to evaporation and to the entry of deleterious matter. Lack of provision for elevating the bottle lip occasions the sacrifice of considerable area of evaporation surface. 1

In the preferred embodiment of the present invention an inner chamber 14, of suitable metal such as enameled iron, or of glass or earthenware, is fitted into the olla, this chamber being preferably in the form of acylinder closed at the bottom and open at the top and mounted on the olla rim by means of gaskets or the like 16. These gaskets cooperate with the flared upper edge of chamber 14 and the corresponding upper edge of the olla itself.

Mounted in the upper end of the chamber 14 is a support for the bottle 12, this support being best shown at 18, the principal purpose of which is to raise the level of the liquid in the dispensing chamber and also relatively, in the olla whereby the effective cooling area of the olla is greatly increased. A heavy moulded gasket 20 is applied to the upper edge of this support so that the bottle 12 can be readily and safely inverted thereupon with its mouth extending thereinto, as is best shown in Figure 1.

A suitable delivery outlet in the form of a faucet or the like 22 is provided, this being mounted in a suitable opening in the lower portion of the olla and in a leak-proof relation by means of gaskets 24, and the inner end of the faucet extends into a corresponding opening formed in the lower end of the chamberYl i and is fitted thereinto in water-tight relation by means of soft rubber gaskets or the like 26.

In this manner the actual supply of drinking water is retained at all times separate and distinct from the evaporation water maintained in the olla jar, while at the same time it is cooled by reason of evaporation of the water in the olla jar through the pores thereof, the cooling effect being transmitted through said water to the inner chamber and the contents thereof.

In order that an adequate supply of evaporation water be always maintained in the olla, a bleeder opening is provided below the water level 28 and preferably adjacent to the upper end of chamber 14, this water level being normally just above the lip of the inverted bottle.

Mounted in the bleeder opening is a flow tube 30, preferably U shaped as shown in the figures whereby water from the chamber 14 will flow therethrough and into the space between thechamber and the walls of the olla. With the water level in the chamber at 28 where it is maintained so long as there is any water in the bottle 12, the normal level of the water in the space between the chamber and the walls of the olla would be identical therewith and there would be no seal between the two bodies of water. Further, should the water level in the chamber 1-1 fall below the height indicated at 28, themore or less stagnant water in the olla would flow back into the chamber until it fell below the outlet end. To obviate this undesirable condition an air compression chamber or hood 32 is rigidly attached in a position to enclose the outlet end of the bleeder tube, at a point which is predetermined as to the distance it extends above and below the outlet end. As the water flows through the bleeder tube it rises in the olla unimpeded until the level reaches the bottom of the air compression chamber when its further rise operates to compress the air within the chamber until an equilibrium is established between the air pressure within the hood and the weight of the water column in the inner chamber, when the flow automatically stops, to be resumed only when sufficient liquid has percolated through the olla walls to reduce the air pressure within the hood to a point below the weight of the water column in the inner chamber. The liquid remaining in the flow tube serves as an effective water seal between the olla and the inner container, preventing any passage of air, with consequent loss of airpressure in the hood, from the olla to the inner chamber when the liquid in the inner chamber falls below the inlet end of the bleeder tube, due to withdrawal of liquid from the inner chamber through the faucet after the supply bottle has become emptied. All possibility of back-flow through the bleeder tube is eliminated by the air pressure within the hood which prevents the water level within the olla jar from rising to the outlet end of flow tube.

The height of the evaporation water in the 011a being subject to little variation obviates the unsightly deposit of scale on the outside of the olla by reason of the fact that the outside may be glazed to a point below the low level of the evaporation water, thus preventing drying out of any porous portion of the olla wall and keeping in solution the salts which form scale.

It will be seen that herein is provided a water cooler and olla which in addition to cooling water or the like for beverage purposes always maintains the same in a clean, sanitary and wholesome condition. The novel means of controlling the height of the evaporation liquid in the olla jar, whereby back-flow of same into the drinking supply is positively prevented, constitutes, of course, the main feature of the inven tion and being simple and economical of construction, should find a ready application in devices of this sort.

I claim as my invention:

1. A beverage dispensing olla comprising a porous jar, a container within the jar, outlet means for the container passing through the jar, and means for preventing back-flow of cooling liquid within the jar into the drinking supply within the container, said means also including a channel for replenishing the supply of cooling water, said channel comprising a U-shaped pipe.

2. A beverage dispensing olla, comprising a porous jar, a container within the jar, outlet means for the container passing through the jar, and means for preventing back-flow of cooling liquid within the jar into the drinking supply within the container, said means also including a channel for replenishing the supply of cooling water, said channel comprising a U- shaped pipe mounted in the beverage containing chamber and extending into the space for cooling liquid.

3. A beverage dispensing olla, comprising a porous jar, a container within the jar, outlet means for the container passing through the jar, and means for preventing back-flow of cooling liquid within the jar into the drinking supply within the container, said means also including a channel for replenishing the supply of cooling water, said channel comprising a U- shaped pipe mounted in the beverage containing chamber adjacent the top thereof, and having its outer end higher than its inner end.

4. In an olla, a container for a beverage, and a space between the container and the inner walls of the olla for the maintenance of a supply of cooling liquid, together with a means of 3:15

communication between the container and said space for flow therethrough of cooling liquid said means comprising a U-shaped tube fixed in the container and positioned in said space, and means for preventing back-flow of said cooling liquid through said tube.

5. In an olla, a container for a beverage, and a space between the container and the inner walls of the olla for the maintenance of a supply of cooling liquid, together with a means of communication between the container and said space for flow therethrough of cooling liquid, said means com rising a U-shaped tube fixed in the container and positioned in said space, and

means for preventing back-fiowpi said cooling liquid through said tube, said means comprising a hood positioned over the outer end of the tube.

6. In an olla, a container for a beverage, and

a space between the container and the innerwalls of the olla for the maintenance of a supply of cooling liquid, together with a means of communication between the container and said space for flow therethrough of cooling liquid,

said means comprising a U-shaped tube in the container and positioned in said space, and means for preventing back-flow of said cooling liquid through said tube, said means comprising a hood positioned over the outer end of the tube, the tube having its outlet end higher M5 than its inlet end, and means for supporting the hood in air-compressive relation about the outer end of said tube.

7. In an olla, a container for a beverage, and

a space between the container and the inner in the contamer and in the interspace, for the purpose of automatically stopping flow and preventing back-flow, said means comprising an 'air compression chamber enveloping the egress end of the communicating channel.

MONT V. VAN FLEET. 

